Death sentences
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A death sentence is not the same thing as an execution: years can pass between the two, and the sentence may be overturned on appeal, commuted, or never carried out. Counting them separately measures two different things: how far a state resorts to capital punishment, and how far it actually applies it.
This page collects the news on death sentences handed down around the world, on the later stages of appeal, and on the sentences upheld or overturned. Executions have a page of their own.
Latest news
MAY 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Pedram Madani executed in Karaj on May 28
MAY 27, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE-MURDER OF STEPSISTER
Rawalpindi Additional District and Sessions Judge Afshan Ijaz Sufi has sentenced a man, Azhar, to two counts of death penalty, seven years in prison, and a fine of Rs400,000 after he was found guilty of raping and brutally murdering his minor stepsister a
MAY 27, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH 17 YEARS AFTER COLLEGE STUDENT MURDER
A court in Bangladesh on May 20, 2025 handed down the death penalty to three individuals over the murder of a college student in Bhairab Upazila of Kishoreganj, 17 years after the killing took place.
MAY 26, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING TRADER AFTER ABDUCTION IN SIRAJGANJ
A Sirajganj court on March 20, 2025 sentenced six men to death for abducting and murdering vegetable trader Nazmul Islam in 2017.
MAY 25, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SECTARIAN MURDER OF TWO RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS IN 2016
An anti-terrorism court on May 15, 2025 sentenced Syed Mohsin Talha, aka Pagal, to death on four counts for the targeted killings of two ulemas — Mufti Ghulam Akbar and Mufti Kamran Hussain.
MAY 21, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ZAHIR JAFFER'S DEATH SENTENCE
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on May 20, 2025 upheld the death penalty of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, a Pakistani-American, who was convicted of murdering 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former diplomat, a lawyer of Mukadam’s father said.
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Kashani executed in Hamedan on May 21
MAY 20, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT FREES MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 2013 RAPE-MURDER CASE
The Supreme Court of India has acquitted a man accused of raping and murdering a child in 2013 in Maharashtra’s Thane, citing the probe agency’s “shabby investigation” and the “overzealous” approach of the court that sentenced him, First Post reported on
- MAY 19, 2025ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER CHIP BOSS GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE IN CORRUPTION CASE
A Chinese court handed Zhao Weiguo, the former chairman of semiconductor firm Tsinghua Unigroup, a suspended death sentence on May 14, 2025 after he was found guilty of corruption and embezzlement, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
- MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali-Asghar Alami executed in Damghan on May 19
MAY 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Bani-Asad executed in Borazjan on May 17
MAY 15, 2025GambiaDEATH PENALTYGAMBIA: SIERRA LEONEAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING BRITISH NATIONAL
Banjul High Court, presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, on May 12, 2025 sentenced Augustine Bangura, a Sierra Leonean national, to death having found him guilty of killing a British national, Shakina Chinedu.
MAY 15, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Glen Rogers, 62, White, was executed on May 15
MAY 15, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Ryan Cole, 33, White, sentenced to death
- MAY 14, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 3 GET DEATH PENALTY, 5 LIFE TERM IN TRIPLE MURDER CASE IN MUNSHIGANJ
A Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka on May 8, 2025 awarded death penalty to three accused and life term imprisonment to five others in a triple murder case in Munshiganj.
MAY 14, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR KILLING FRIEND IN FIGHT OVER CAP
A High Court in Kano has sentenced one Adamu Isma’ila Arzai to death by hanging for killing his friend during a fight over a cap, Daily Post reported on May 13, 2025.
- MAY 13, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 68th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
MAY 13, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Reza Sabzi executed in Malayer on May 13
16 at time of crime
MAY 12, 2025IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GET THEM LEGAL ASSISTANCE, SAYS HC ON 3 INDIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN INDONESIA
The Delhi high court on May 2, 2025 directed the Indian Consulate in Indonesia to take urgent steps to ensure proper legal representation and assistance for three Indian nationals sentenced to death by an Indonesian court.
MAY 11, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: WOMAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING COUSIN OVER PROPERTY ISSUE
Rawalpindi female additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) on May 10, 2025 handed down death sentence to a 22-year-old woman for killing her paternal cousin over property and marriage issues.
MAY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran sentences another political prisoner to death: Ehsan Faridi
MAY 9, 2025OhioDEATH PENALTYUSA - Ohio. Death sentence of Donna Roberts overturned
Not the guilty verdict
MAY 8, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF SENIOR LAWYER IN SYLHET
A Sylhet court on May 6, 2025 sentenced three individuals, including the son of the victim, to death for the brutal 2011 murder of veteran lawyer Shamsul Islam Chowdhury. Another accused in the case received a three-year prison sentence.
MAY 8, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: BRT DRIVER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BAMISE’S MURDER
Justice Sherifat Sonaike of the Lagos State High Court on May 2, 2025 sentenced Bus Rapid Transit driver, Andrew Ominikoron, to death by hanging for the murder of 22-year-old Oluwabamise Ayanwola.
MAY 8, 2025South CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - South Carolina. Botched firing squad execution
Autopsy suggests shooters did not hit Mikal Mahdi's heart
MAY 7, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OVER COLD CURRY
Sargodha Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Aslam sentenced a man to death for killing his daughter-in-law over serving cold curry and acquitted.
MAY 6, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GUJARAT COURT HANDS DOWN 'DOUBLE DEATH SENTENCE' TO MAN FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF 7-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A sessions court in Gujarat on April 25, 2025 sentenced a man, 30, to a double death penalty in the case of raping and strangulating a 7-year-old girl to death in October 2019 in a village in Anand.
- MAY 6, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: FOUR GET DEATH FOR MURDER OF HAWKER ZUBAIR IN NARAYANGANJ
A Narayanganj court on May 6, 2025 sentenced four individuals to death and two others to life imprisonment in the murder case of hawker Zubair.
- MAY 3, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: ARMY COURT MARTIAL SENTENCES SOLDIER TO DEATH FOR GIRLFRIEND’S MURDER
A General Court Martial sitting at the Headquarters, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, has sentenced Private Adamu Mohammed to death by hanging for murder, while Private Abubakar Yusuf was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for robbery.
MAY 2, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Death Row USA Spring 2025
2067 persons on death row as April 1, 2025